Tony Blair last night held out the prospect of a new series of partnerships between the west and former enemies in the fight against global terrorism as he warned that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was "not beaten yet".

Addressing such sensitive states as Russia, Iran and Syria, Mr Blair promised "a new relationship" if they would work within the international consensus against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and help to end violence in areas where "wrongs unrighted" had festered for decades.

Speaking at the Lord Mayor's Banquet at Guildhall in the City of London, he restated the principles of interdependence, in which isolationism was no longer a feasible option, even for the last superpower, since the attacks on the United States.

"One illusion has been shattered on September 11: that we can have the good life of the west, irrespective of the state of the world. Once chaos and strife have got a grip on a region or country, trouble will soon be exported," Mr Blair told his City audience.

While welcoming the day's dramatic military advances towards Kabul, he added a note of caution. "It's clear the Taliban are unravelling, but they are not beaten yet, or al-Qaida yet hunted down. We must continue until they are."

The tone of the prime minister's speech appeared to signal no retreat from his vision of a new world order, expounded at Labour's Brighton conference in October.

The Afghan military action had to be used to remove the conditions which allow evil to flourish, Mr Blair said - his remarks almost certainly addressed as much at hawks in Washington as at states with ambiguous records on harbouring terrorism.

"The dragons' teeth are planted in the fertile soil of wrongs unrighted, of disputes left to fester for years or even decades, of failed states, of poverty and deprivation," Mr Blair warned.

Reprising his Brighton theme, he said: "New alliances or deeper alliances are being fashioned, new world views formed. And it is all happening fast, there is a shortcut through normal diplomacy. We should grasp the moment and move, not let our world slip back into rigidity. We need boldness, grip and follow-through."

Mr Blair restated his "land for peace" view of the Middle East peace process which must be restarted, and the need to tackle poverty in Africa, not least by using the new trade round at Dohar in Qatar to help raise living standards - itself a controversial claim.

But he did not address one of the "festering" regional issues on Afghanistan's doorstep - which must have been on his mind yeserday, because Mr Blair's speech was only finished after his 90 minute lunch with the Indian prime minister, Atal Bihiri Vajpayee, had been interrupted by news of the air crash in New York.

"The shock around the table was palpable," the No 10 spokesman said. Mr Blair later spoke by telephone with President Bush for 25 minutes, both to express his condolences and discuss the rapidly changing military situation in Afghanistan.

The talks with Mr Vajpayee, India's Hindu nationalist premier, were described by both sides as cordial, as the two leaders agreed on the need for a broadly based post-Taliban regime in Kabul.

But No 10 refused to be drawn on Delhi's calls for a tougher line on Pakistan backed terrorist groups in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

India sees it as logical that the campaign against al-Qaida should be extended to terrorist groups attacking targets in Kashmir from Pakistan.